John MOORE / Mary ?

John Moore

John Moore served from Anson County as a Captain in the North Carolina colonial militia
during the French and Indian War.
He was killed by Cherokee Indians in the Battle of Echoe near present day Franklin,
North Carolina.
Before he died, he gave an oral will in which he named his wife Mary, brother Moses,
and nephew John:

Noncupative will of John Moore, killed at
the Eakkown in the middle settlements of
the Cherokee Nations of Indians, take by me
Peter Kockindolph, at the time, before the
said John Moore dyed he sent for me and
told me he wanted to let me know how he
would have his estate disposed of. John
Moore then said it was his will and
desire that his brother Moses (and his) son
John should have the place which he bought
of Jeremiah Potts and the remainder of
estate of all kinds he left his own wife,
Mary. 6 Aug 1760. Signed Peter Kuykendal.
(McBee, Anson County, North Carolina Abstracts of Early Records, p.6)2

The following text is from a historical marker that describes
the Battle of Echoe in which John Moore died.
The marker was erected in 1964 on U.S. 441 Business (Main Street)
in Franklin, North Carolina:

QQ-1: Battle of Echoe:
Beginning in 1758, South Carolina
engaged in a four-year war with the Cherokee
Indians, whose descendants now live in western
North Carolina and eastern Tennessee.
This war resulted from the French efforts to
incite the Southern Indians against the British
in the French and Indian War (1754-63).
South Carolina Governor William H.
Lyttleton in 1759 made the first effort to
defeat the Indians but failed because of a
smallpox epidemic which caused the abandonment
of his expedition. In 1760 William
Bull, Lyttleton's successor, asked British
General Jeffrey Amherst so assist in a second
attempt. Amherst sent Colonel Archibald
Montgomery with a force of 1,200 men, composed
of elements of the Royal Scottish and
Highlanders regiments.
Montgomery arrived in Charleston on
April 1, 1760. The troops reached Fort Prince
George on June 2. Time was important since
British-held Fort Loudoun, on the Tennessee
River, was under close attack by the Indians.
Montgomery marched on June 24, enroute to
the Middle Towns (situated in this valley).
His force swelled by provincial militia, numbered
1,600. Montgomery believed that the
destruction of the Middle Towns would bring
the Indians to terms. The expedition followed
the Cherokee Trading Path across the
Keowee and Oconee Rivers. At 4 A.M. on
June 27 the troops crossed Rabun Gap and
entered the Little Tennessee Valley. Their
destination was Echoe, Lowest of the Middle
Towns.
At 10 A.M., June 27, the Army's advance
guard entered a narrow pass between a range
of mountains on the left and low hills on the
right, partially encircled by the river. This
was the setting for Montgomery's defeat, for
the Indians led by Chief Occonostota,
attached the column on both sides, forcing it
back. Montgomery sent the Provincial Rangers
into the fight, while the Royal Socts
moved to the hills on the right. The Highlanders
went to the mountains on the left.
Under this pressure the Indians withdrew to
the mountains. After four hours of fighting
the British continued their march, fording the
river, north of the battlefield.
Montgomery's baggage train, left to shift
for itself and guarded by only 100 men, was
saved after heavy fighting.
The army reached Echoe, but left after a
day for Fort Prince George. Montgomery's
reasons for retreat were (1) the mountains
before him were "impassable," and (2) a forward
movement would have forced him to
abandon to the Indians his sick and wounded.
Reaching Fort Prince George on July 1,
Montgomery had suffered nearly 100 casualties
and had gained nothing. Four Loudoun
was surrendered to the Indians on August 9.
Montgomery's Expedition provided one of
the few occasions when the Cherokee were
able to defeat a British Colonial army.
In the next year, June 10, 1761, the Cherokee
were defeated by 2,800-man expedition
under Colonel James Grant, Montgomery's
second-in-command. This Second Battle of
Echoe, fought two miles southeast of the
1760 battlefield, marked the beginning of
a long series of reverses from which the Cherokee
never recovered.
(Hill, Guide to North Carolina Highway Historical Markers, p.136-137)1